Gwede Mantashe

Wild Coast communities and NGOs challenged the oil exploration rights used by Shell and Impact Africa, particularly on grounds of inadequate consultation and failure to consider cultural, livelihood and environmental rights. Following several conflicting decisions on the appropriate remedy, the Constitutional Court delivered a judgment on 14 August 2026 blocking the exploration project under the existing rights. Mantashe's ministry had defended oil and gas development and supported the contested rights.

Attribution

Political responsibility

Afrimat went to court after waiting approximately nine months for a mining right transfer application whose approval was a condition of a corporate transaction. In May 2026, the High Court ordered Mantashe to grant consent within a very short period, finding that the administrative delay could have commercial and employment consequences.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Bosasa installed security equipment free of charge at several of Mantashe's private properties while he was ANC Secretary-General. The Zondo Commission considered that there were grounds for a corruption investigation and recommended that authorities examine these benefits. Mantashe sought to have the findings overturned; in October 2025, the High Court dismissed his application as legally invalid for lack of prior procedural authorisation.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Mantashe was at the centre of controversy over the RMIPPPP emergency energy programme and the award of a large share to Karpowership SA. An unsuccessful bidder, DNG, alleged in court proceedings that the process had been rigged and that people close to the minister had intervened. Mantashe and his department denied corruption. DNG's challenge was dismissed with costs in 2022, while the project remained contested on environmental, financial and regulatory grounds.

Attribution

Associate

During the siege of illegal miners in Stilfontein, authorities blocked supplies to force workers to emerge and be arrested. By the end of the crisis, dozens of bodies had been recovered, and state tactics prompted serious accusations of inhumane treatment. Mantashe defended a hard line against illegal mining, describing it as an attack on the economy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Mantashe was one of the main advocates of a gradual phase-out of coal in South Africa, arguing that closing power stations too quickly would destroy jobs, create ghost towns and endanger energy security. This position brought him into conflict with climate advocates, lenders and supporters of faster renewable energy deployment.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Directly implicated

Documents reported by the Mail & Guardian showed that Mantashe had dismissed an appeal concerning the transfer of Kareepan mining rights despite written advice from his legal director recommending the opposite. Shareholders accused the minister and people in his entourage of favouring a competing structure; a court prohibited implementation of the transfer while litigation was ongoing.

Attribution

Political responsibility

In 2019, Sunday World reported that Mantashe had said he paid 70,000 rand to two journalists to suppress a story about his private life. After initially contesting the account, his entourage acknowledged that he had made the statement, but Mantashe denied actually paying the journalists and retracted the allegation. SANEF and an inquiry led by Judge Kathy Satchwell strongly criticised his conduct towards the media.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

In November 2018, the High Court ruled that the Mineral Resources Minister could not grant mining rights over the customary land of the Umgungundlovu/Xolobeni community without its free and informed consent. Mantashe, who supported the possibility of exploiting mineral resources, appealed, provoking an open rift with the Amadiba Crisis Committee and the community.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility